Method of flowing oil



Dec. 3, 1929. E. P. REYNOLDS METHOD OF FLOWING` OIL Filed; June 27, l192'7 INVENTOR fifjfgolds,

ATTORNEYS EZ/IM Patented Dec. 3, 1929 PATENT OFFICE EDWARD P, REYNOLDS,' 0F ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA METHOD OF FLOWING OIL Appucation fuea June 27,

This invention relates to a method of cleaning oil wells and reducing the viscosity of the oil while accelerating the flow of the oil from the well, all as a continuous and positively functioning operation.

An essential object of the invention is the provision of a method which will maintain a definite clearance of the perforations of the well casing by the step of subjecting theoil l to the action of a reducing heat at the perforations so as to .break down the heavier constituents of the oil which ordinarily are the cause of a clogging of said perforations and a resultant impediment to thernotion of the oil from the oil bearing sand to the tubino` of the well.

A urther object of the invention resides in the step of subjecting the oil to the action of reducing heat before it is permitted to enter the tubing and in the step of ushering the oil through the tubing by the action of a i heat current whose supplementary functional characteristic is to reduce the viscosity of the oil and prevent undue adhesion of the heavier constituents of the oil to the walls of the tubing, thus allowing an uninterrupted flow of the o il.

My invention embodies the principle of introducing air or some other suitable, noncondensable and gaseous substance at a sufficiently high temperature to the well to over-` come the congealing of the paraffin, asphaltum or other heavy bodies contained tin they mineral oil and in reducing the viscosity of the mineral oil to liberate the entrapped v gases contained therein, thereby assisting the mineral oil on its upward movement from.

very materially in lightening the column of the source to the discharge from the top of the well. I am particularly concerned in these prime features and, of course, I do not wish to be limited to any details of construcy tion of a desirable mechanical means for carrying the invention into practice. Therefore, the instrumentalities which characterize ,the apparatus herein disclosed are to be considere'd simply as a statutory prerequisite necessary to a disclosure of at least one known Wag of carr ing the invention into practice.

ther ob]ects and advantages of my in- 1927. Serial No. 201,808.

vention will more fully appear as the description proceeds. p

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical section through a welll showing the manner of practicing my invention;

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Reference may now be had to the drawings, wherein 10 represents the oor of a derrick and 11 the well casing which passes therethrough, the latter associated with a tubing string 12. The casing 11 is perforated as usual near its lower end as at 11El and at a point above the perforations and occup ing the space between the casing and the tu ing is a packer 13 which functions to provide an airand gas-tight connection between the walls of the casing and the walls of the tubing, while holding the latter spaced from the said walls of the former. At a point above the packerl 13 and formed in the tubing are perforations 12al which open outwardly into the space A between the tubing and the casing and which open inwardly to the space'B between the walls of the main body of the tubing and the walls of an inner length of lsupplemental tubin section 14. The string lof the tubing. At a point slightly above the nose 17 and formedin the supplemental tubing section 14 are perforations 18.

`The casing 11 is closed at its upper end as at 19, and the tubing 12 passes through said closed end and, beyond the latter, it is provided' witha lateral branch 20 to conduct the discharging oil to aI receiving source, not shown. Below the closed upper end of the casing and connected with the latter so as to communicate with the space A is a pipe or duct 21. Around a portion of said pipe or duct is a drum 22 by means of which steam or some other heat agent can be introduced densable gas around the tubin of the well and upward into the tubing rom a point near the source of oil supply and in causing the gas to mix with the oil as the column 5 moves upward in thetubing.

' 6. The herein described method of l htening the column of mineral oil and in re ucing the viscosity of the oil from the source to a point of dischar e of the oil from a well, which consists in orcing under constant pressure a hot non-condensable and gaseous substance around the tubing of the Well and upward into the tubing from the base thereof and in causing the gaseous substance to ow u upwardly in the tubing while in direct contact and intermixed with the oil.

EDWARD P. REYNOLDSE 

